Numerous systems have been proposed in the past for converting waste materials into useful products. For example, the following listed U.S. patents describe systems which purport to convert organic waste materials into useful products such as oil and gas:
______________________________________ NUMBER PATENTEE DATE ______________________________________ 4,108,730 CHEN et al. 08/22/78 4,175,211 CHEN et al. 11/20/79 4,118,281 YAN 10/03/78 4,935,038 WOLF 06/19/90 4,636,318 BAKER 01/13/87 4,842,692 BAKER 06/27/89 4,842,728 BAKER 06/27/89 4,923,604 BAKER 05/08/90 ______________________________________
Further, Shimizu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,838 describes a system for processing sludge, and Ohsol, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,876 describes a system for separating oil, gas and solids.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide improved processes for converting a process material such as organic materials (coal and/or organic waste) and inorganic materials into useful oils, gases and solids.